The front cover of the new British Goose Producers recipe leaflet

"Consumers who have never bought a goose should not be daunted by the prospect of cooking one for the first time," says Eddie Hegarty, chairman of British Goose Producers.

"It’s really quite an easy bird to cook as long as you follow some simple guidelines — and your family will be surprised and delighted by how different is goose meat to other Christmas poultry."

The five simple rules from Leicestershire goose producer Claire Symington are:

• Choose a British free range goose, a 10 lb (4.5 kg) bird will feed six to eight people
• Use a large, deep roasting tin with a trivet or rack, and large spoon for basting
• During cooking pour off the surplus fat, then use this for roasting potatoes and parsnips
• Do not overcook — around three hours is ideal for a 10 lb goose. Leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving
• Make a nice simple stuffing and an easy apple sauce and prepare some braised red cabbage well in advance, leaving just the goose and roasted vegetables to do on the day.

A full range of cooking advice and recipe suggestions is provided in the new British Free Range Goose recipe leaflet available from BGP members, butchers and farm shops — or available from British Goose Producers, 5 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ tel 07725 554944 or e-mail [email protected].

You can download the British Goose Producers' recipe leaflet by clicking here.